Kurt Philip Behm

Or Turn You Out (+3)

Is remembrance now a hidden tenant,

that lives throughout your home

 

Does it lurk in every corner,

to come out when you’re alone

 

Is the voice heard down a distant hall,

a lost child once left about

 

Does that face now staring through the dark,

draw you in—or turn you out

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)

 

 

Flowing Through

 

Does your writing leave room

for intrusion

 

With spaces for listeners

to crawl in

 

Are your words like a sponge

that the reader can drain

 

Your verses to flow through

them again

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)

 

 

 

Sutured Infirmity

 

Gripping the meteor,

both hands for dear life

 

Expelling, compelling,

less heat and more light

 

Afraid to let go,

knowing what it will mean

 

My pen to go dry

—my heart not to bleed

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2017)

 

 

Zero-Sum Enigma

 

Is honor sum total,

or dolled out by degree

 

Can it live through confusion,

and your failings to be

 

Are those moments of weakness,

made up when you strive

 

To become more than just living,

eternal—alive

 

(Villanova Pennsylvania: September, 2019)